Want not, waste not: Reducing cosmetic packaging by demand

A billboard advertising cosmetic products is set in front of an office building in Times Square

Photograph by: EMMANUEL DUNAND
, Getty Images

“Everything is made from stuff that the Earth doesn’t know what to do with.” So Tom Szaky, President of TerraCycle - a company which runs waste collection programs for difficult-to-recycle materials, reminded a group of beauty editors in Toronto last week. The “stuff” Tom was referring to are the chemical compounds that most consumer packages consist of, like the pillows of plastic wrapped around new lipstick bullets and bottles of perfume.

Truth is, when you toss a used-up tube of toothpaste in the blue bin, the hard plastic cap - at the least - will turn up in a landfill. Same goes for bottles with metal-coil pumps, like hand and face washes, mascara tubes and hard-plastic compacts. Cosmetic packaging accounts for nearly half of the world’s landfill mass. As an environmentally-concerned individual, but also because I’m a beauty writer who receives products on a regular basis, this reality bites my moral conscience.

As Tom explained, it’s not that plastic caps and tubes aren’t recyclable; it’s that the cost of collecting and processing them into new materials is higher than the end product is worth. Most municipalities’ recycling programs can’t afford that cost, and so the waste accumulates.

As consumers, we don’t seek to harm the environment and planet intentionally but when we really want something, packaging doesn’t seem to get in the way. When we weigh our options between want or need versus environmentally friendliness, the scale still tips towards desire. But perhaps if less packaging was the rule – like, if mascara tubes were sealed but not boxed – purchasing the most wrapped-up option could become the exception.

There is, however, a bright light at the end of the beauty waste tunnel.

I travelled to TerraCycle to learn about their recent collaboration with L’Oreal and Garnier. Together they’re developing a national program aimed at recycling beauty packaging before it reaches the landfill. The program, called the “Personal Care and Beauty Brigade” collected 1.2 billion pieces of waste in 23 countries last year. In Canada, there are currently 1.2 million people running a collection program with TerraCycle.

True to their mandate, the TerraCycle offices are furnished only by reused things - like doors for desks and mirror frames made of highlighter pens - and I was even shown how to make a pretty awesome string of patio lights out of old shampoo bottles. The company also has a range of upcycled items available for sale at stores like WalMart and Whole Foods.

In addition to reusing and upcycling, TerraCycle and Garnier are working together on solving the third and most expensive option for wasteful material: recycling. Garnier is voluntarily footing the bill for TerraCycle to collect non-recyclables and process them into new materials. In municipalities that won’t collect, Garnier and TerraCycle will. They’re collecting waste from every cosmetic company and turning them into reusable sheets of “plastic,” or materials divided and melted into new forms.

The process for consumers is simple and completely free of cost – create an account, register for the brigade, print off your free UPS ground shipping ticket, and put all your bottles in a box. For each piece of waste collected, two cents is added to the individual recycler’s “account” to donate to a school or charity of their choice - this year they’re already on track to donate $3 million where it’s needed in Canada.

This collaboration is but one example of the ongoing effort being made by the fashion and beauty industry. More than ever, it’s possible to maintain your beauty regime and your fashion-forward wardrobe while also being eco-conscious. Huge strides are also being made in recycled fabric technology, which means taking wasteful things and turning them into useful things.

Whereas “fast fashion” companies (like H&M, Zara, Forever 21 and Joe Fresh) produce cheap clothing overseas, forward-thinking companies - like Hussein Chalayan and Maison Martin Margiela - are more concerned with the ethics of clothing production and designing sustainable items. This is a return to a “save up, invest to last” shopping mentality and less about acquiring a new, but nearly disposable, piece of clothing every week.

Roxy, the sun-and-surf clothing brand associated with cool, laid-back ladies is branching into lifestyle gear, like tops and bottoms that are easily worn to yoga class then out for lunch, made entirely of recycled plastic bottles. And they’re not just releasing an “environmentally-friendly” capsule collection; they’re using recycled fabrics across the board as often as possible.

It’s feasible for Roxy because more textile mills are producing recycled polyester and nylon textiles than they were five years ago. Back then, the technology was still new and getting certified as “eco” was expensive and this cost was passed along to the consumer. Now that more mills are on board, more brands are buying the textiles and the price of recycled clothing has been driven down.

Roxy’s recycled nylon sports bras and swimwear are made from fishing nets and carpets that would have otherwise been thrown into the garbage and added to a landfill. I’ve worn them, and I can attest that they’re soft, flexible and really flattering to wear.

Julia Handleman, Senior Designer for Roxy, assured me that they’re not employing recycled textiles so they can advertise “recycled” to the consumer. Rather, the price of sustainable fabrics is now affordable enough to buy and design within their brand’s price-point. And ultimately, because it’s the right thing to do.

As a consumer, one of the most powerful things you can do is vote with your dollar. When you shop, consider where it came from and where the packaging is going. You have so many options to choose from – if you increasingly purchase the lesser packaged item, or the recycled fibre sweater, corporations will react to that demand. Considering it’s been only five years since textile mills adopted recycled technologies, just imagine the improvement ten years of conscious consumerism could make.

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